Okay, I admit that the exhibition „INCA – Kings of the Andes“ finished in march 2014 in Stuttgart, and now its already….. hm…. Well, October 2014. That shows how long some things stay in this blog without being published. But I would like to write about it, anyway. Because the exhibition can still be seen at Rosenheim until November 2014 and because it stirred thought that I have been harboring for some time, and I would like to share them, even after 7 months waiting to publish them.

The exhibition was marketed as “unique”, the “biggest in Europe” and it was an exhibition on a federal basis, meaning that it had an official impact. Hosted by the famous Lindenmuseum Stuttgart, “INCA” affected my very own investigations. This was MY topic and I was eager to see it. The first thing I found on the web concerning the exhibition was a trailer on YouTube, presenting an interview with the curators of the exhibition. And to be frank: I am NOT being objective on this exhibition because I am so involved in this subject of investigation that I just cant stay on the objective side. And by and large there are issues about archaeology that are important to me and these concern mainly the social relevance of archaeology. And why an enormous (and this means: costly, too) exhibition should focus on relevance as well, and not only on the beauty of the objects it presents and the “adventure of Archaeology”.

The trailer offered one thing, mainly: Archaeology as Indiana Jones. There are sentences like: “we went down to the depots and discovered dusty boxes”. In them, there were “found incredible objects” that can now be seen in the exhibition. Well. Aha. OK. I fully understand the fascination of objects ion the depot. And I admit of getting sweaty hands when working with archaeological objects because I am so excited to do this work. So, it´s great that you can “discover” objects there – but what´s the meaning of these objects for todays life? I mean: when you strip away the scientific or artistic fascination about them??? What do they tell us about the Inca and about ourselves?

The Inca were one of the biggest states on American soil before the arrival of the Spaniards. Their politics of expansion and the colonialist behavior caused very different reactions in the conquered regions, that ranged between violence, counter-violence and the extinction and re-settlement of whole ethnic groups and the appropriation of Inca culture as a means of adaptation. One of the most fascinating chapters of incaic colonization was the use of incaic material cultural elements by local groups in order to pursue their OWN agenda, participating in structures of power through the adoption of certain incaic elements during and AFTER the Inca rule, when Spanish colonization was a major threat to previous pre-Hispanic order. But this was no issue in the trailer nor in the exhibition. The title “INCA – kings of the Andes” shows what this is about, even when it could have been something completely different. What about: “Andean colonisators”? Or: “Home & Province”? But „Kings“ mean: Rulers. Elite. And: elitist obejcts, and of these there was plenty.

Because the exhibition shows mainly a wonderful, beautiful overview of Inca development and culture: Where did they come from, who were they, how did they live, how did they die, what did they conquer? Gold, textiles, ceramics, pictures. Wonderful photos of Andean landscapes. If one visits an exhibition, you often compare objects to your own culture, mainly if they touch themes of everyday culture. So these were some of the commentaries I heard at the exhibition: “They were so much superior to these Brazilian stuff, these Inca!” or, on mummies: “Oh look! They stuffed their dead in there! We put them into the earth and they preserved them!”. For children there was room to play and many objects to marvel on: mummy replicas, and gold gold gold… just as you imagine the Inca Empire – that´s how it was presented. No questions, no surprises; if you don’t count beauty as a surprise.

There was nothing to learn about syncretism, the appropriation or political use of objects. Only in the last section of the exhibition, when it came to the Spanish conquest, syncretism came along. Great, but: it seems that this is something that only went on with the encounter of Europeans and South Americans. And that’s just not true, because the negotiation of power structures was as pre-Hispanic as anything. So, I would have LOVED to see these issues included into the ore-Hispanic sections! And these are issues that border on our own globalized world as well! Inca culture in all its regional aspects is so very very up-to-date! But that’s no issue here. Conflictivity as seen on some videos at the end of the exposition, its so incredibly present until today!

Right on the end, before leaving the exposition, there was something like relevance: videos presented the views of todays residents of the Andes on the Inca. As ancestors, as heritage, as a name and as a culture. And there were many different people: from farm workers to German restaurateurs. A whole bunch of opinions! Offered as videos, it fascinated a lot of people, so everybody was seated on benches viewing these for some time. And that was the moment were relevance was almost palpable: the impact of the Inca today. What do people think about it today? What´s the relevance of Inca to them? Why do they identify with the Inca or why not? The Inca have always been perceived as something as the ancestors of todays Peruvians. And that is, f.e., the reason why Bolivians would NEVER see them as ancestors because they perceive the Inca as some early colonization of their current nation state. They see their ancestors in other prehispanic groups and use them as a political tool to explore their history and future. This tangible aspect of Inca culture TODAY would have deserved much more space in the exhibition. As it was, it was nice. But are these no relevant questions: what does history mean to us? Why do we use it, instrumentalize it? But that was no issue at „INCA“. The European public is not to be bothered with these complicated questions. The museum offered a beautiful, nice exhibtion. But please: no conflicts. That´s really nice – and really unfortunate.